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Performance Analysis of a Grid-Connected Upgraded Metallurgical Grade Silicon Photovoltaic System

Author

Listed:
  • Chao Huang

    (Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China)

  • Michael Edesess

    (Centre for Systems Informatics Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China)

  • Alain Bensoussan

    (Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
    School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080-3021, USA)

  • Kwok L. Tsui

    (Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

Because of their low cost, photovoltaic (PV) cells made from upgraded metallurgical grade silicon (UMG-Si) are a promising alternative to conventional solar grade silicon-based PV cells. This study investigates the outdoor performance of a 1.26 kW grid-connected UMG-Si PV system over five years, reporting the energy yields and performance ratio and estimating the long-term performance degradation rate. To make this investigation more meaningful, the performance of a mono-Si PV system installed at the same place and studied during the same period of time is presented for reference. Furthermore, this study systematizes and rationalizes the necessity of a data selection and filtering process to improve the accuracy of degradation rate estimation. The impact of plane-of-array irradiation threshold for data filtering on performance ratio and degradation rate is also studied. The UMG-Si PV system’s monthly performance ratio after data filtering ranged from 84% to 93% over the observation period. The annual degradation rate was 0.44% derived from time series of monthly performance ratio using the classical decomposition method. A comparison of performance ratio and degradation rate to conventional crystalline silicon-based PV systems suggests that performance of the UMG-Si PV system is comparable to that of conventional systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Chao Huang & Michael Edesess & Alain Bensoussan & Kwok L. Tsui, 2016. "Performance Analysis of a Grid-Connected Upgraded Metallurgical Grade Silicon Photovoltaic System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:5:p:342-:d:69497
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    References listed on IDEAS

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